On 23 September 2016 General (Retired) Prayut Chan-Ocha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, chaired the 40th Ministerial Meeting at the United Nations in New York City, United States of America.

         The G77 and China Ministerial Meeting is held annually at the United Nations in New York on the side of the United Nations General Assembly. The Meeting provides an opportunity for the 134 member states to exchange views on global issues and issues of interest during the past year. A compilation of the priority issues are incorporated in a G77 Ministerial Declaration. The Meeting also endorsed the nomination of the G77 Chairman for 2017 to which Ecuador will take up the position in January after Thailand fulfills its Chairmanship tenure.

         The Thai Prime Minister presented his Opening Remarks focusing on Thailand’s contribution to the G77 during 2016. His Excellency indicated that Thailand intended to lay a foundation to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Thailand believes that in order to achieve the Agenda within the 15 year period, G77 member states must show a commitment to 3 major endeavors (1) Financing for Development, through various channels including global trade, investment, and efficient taxation. (2) Human Resource Development through development strategies that must “leave no one behind”. And (3) Expanding Knowledge Access, especially through the transfer of technology and techniques that are appropriate for stable and sustainable growth and development. The President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General of the United Nations also joined the meeting and delivered remarks commending Thailand's role as Chair of the  G77 in pushing forward the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

         The three factors mentioned above could serve to enable developing countries to leap frog in the development phase. In order to achieve sustainable development, it is necessary for countries to forge partnerships on a global scale. As the G77 Chair, Thailand is determined to build bridges between various groups and organizations, during the past 9 months. Our efforts have yielded concrete results as Thailand was the first Chair of G77 to have been invited to join the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China earlier this month.

         During the G77 Ministerial Meeting, Prime Minister also gave a keynote presentation under agenda 3 that shared his views on alarming global challenges and Thailand’s experiences in applying Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) as a practical approach to tackling them and achieving the country’s sustainable development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Prime Minister stressed the core concept of SEP in building strength from within. Thailand had forged partnership on sustainable development with G77 members from almost every region and initiated a network of SEP advocates or “Friends of SEP” that would translate into development partnership. In addition to agricultural sector, SEP partnership could support development in all sectors, varying from environmental conservation, human development to business management. Prime Minister also reaffirmed his commitment to sharing the knowledge and lessons learned with the international community, though after Thailand’s G77 chairmanship, through bilateral, North-South, South - South and trilateral cooperation. Prime Minister emphasized that it was important to join hands and hearts and to have shared commitment to living in the path of sustainable development and peaceful society.

         The G77 Ministers adopted the Ministerial Declaration, in which the initiative of Thailand to share its development experience and promote partnership among G77 members on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals was welcomed. They noted the importance of learning and sharing of best practices including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation and recognized the universality of SEP underscored by its successful application in various development projects in a number of G77 countries, including the Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainable Development Goals Partnership.